Being a child of the 80’s, I’ve been a fan of Kiefer Sutherland ever since the cult favorite The Lost Boys, and his father Donald Sutherland in numerous roles for quite awhile. Many have wondered when the two would ever star in a film together, and decades later their wishes have been granted in director Jon Cassar’s (of the hit show 24 starring Kiefer) film titled Forsaken. While it’s a bit on the predictable side, the father and son duo bring exactly the awesome acting performances you’d expect while having a good time in this fun western romp.
Kiefer Sutherland stars as John Henry Clayton, a tough guy that left his hometown years ago and fought in the Civil War, making him no stranger to killing those that pose a problem to him. He returns home in hopes of putting his blood-filled past behind him and to work things out with his dad. Enter Donald Sutherland as John Henry’s father, Reverend Clayton, who can’t stand violence and doesn’t care too much for his son, especially now that he’s killed his fair share of people. The two were never close, but now things are worse since John Henry’s mother has not long passed away, driving an even bigger wedge between them. When things seem like they can’t get any lower for the two, an evil businessman named James McCurdy (Brian Cox) is looking to pave a railroad line through their town and has sent hired goons to “help” move people off their properties to make this rail line happen. John Henry tries his best to resist taking these baddies out, as to show his dad he’s not the killer he used to be. But as the bad guys continue to push and make things hard for the town and even John Henry’s old flame Mary-Alice (Demi Moore), he’s forced to take a stand to save the town or die trying.
Despite having a cliched plot and characters, Forsaken turned out to be a fun little western that scratched my itch for the genre. Growing up watching some of the many westerns on TV with my family that loves them, seeing modern day takes that try to recapture that classic feel is always a good time to me. Both Donald and Kiefer play their roles well and makes one wish they had teamed up a long time ago. You’d think at some point during Fox’s 24 show they could have paired up, which is something Jon Cassar must have wanted but never had the chance until now to do so. Whatever the case, the movie turned out to be a nice ride into the old west that most viewers are sure to enjoy.
The visuals and audio are pretty good on this Blu-ray, but thanks to the high definition, you can tell the film was made on a low budget as the picture doesn’t look at crisp as it could be, but it doesn’t take anything away from the film. The sounds are nice and crisp though, and every line, gallop and gunshot ring through perfectly. There isn’t much in the way of special features besides a “Making Of” featurette that gives a behind the scenes look at the making of the film and contains interview snippets with the cast and crew along with footage of filming certain scenes of the movie. For a budget title, this extra isn’t bad, but it does make you wish it had at least one more other special feature to round things out.
Predictable but fun, fun but predictable, Forsaken is just those things. Those who have been waiting for the legendary father and son duo that is Donald and Kiefer Sutherland to team up will be more than happy to see them do so here, while those who like a good old fashioned western romp will want to saddle up and blaze a trail to the store and round up a copy for their Blu-ray corral.
